Tesla Vows to Sue Anyone Who Resells Their Cybertruck

Even once you've paid for your Cybertruck, you don't fully own it.

The Possessed

We're just over two weeks away from Tesla's delivery event of its long-awaited Cybertruck, which was first unveiled almost exactly four years ago.

And while Tesla has yet to reveal basic information about the pickup truck —  including its price — it's certainly setting an interesting tone by adding severe penalties for anybody who tries to resell their own Cybertruck within the first year of ownership.

In a section titled "For Cybertruck Only" in its Motor Vehicle Order Agreement customers have to sign, Tesla is instructing owners to "not sell or otherwise attempt to sell the Vehicle within the first year following your Vehicle's delivery date."

If somebody were to break that rule, "Tesla may seek injunctive relief to prevent the transfer of title of the Vehicle or demand liquidated damages from you in the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater."

"Tesla may also refuse to sell you any future vehicles," the document reads, but also reserves the right to buy the vehicle back for a steep discount or authorize the customer to resell the truck if certain conditions are met.

Digging Graves

Reading between the lines, Tesla could be attempting to boost sales of the truck by tamping down on a possible surge in the resale value of its trucks, as Gizmodo suggests.

At the same time, threatening customers with lawsuits for selling their own property is a bizarre move that paints the EV maker in a pretty desperate light.

Holding onto revenue is paramount to the EV maker. Tesla has struggled to keep investors happy this year, with its stock dropping over 17 percent in just the latter half of October, erasing around $145 billion in valuation.

The Cybertruck in particular, as Musk's pet project, has turned into a major headache for the company. Its unique and divisive stainless steel design has forced the company to come up with new production processes — and if the truck turns out to be a lemon, it could be in big trouble.

"We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck," Musk said during Tesla's Q3 quarterly earnings call last month, an attempt to "temper expectations." According to the mercurial CEO, "there will be enormous challenges in reaching volume production with the Cybertruck and then making the Cybertruck cashflow positive."

In other words, the Cybertruck, when it does finally go on sale, will still cost the company a lot of money to produce.

If customers purchase the vehicle and sell the truck on the used market for more than they originally paid, it could lock Tesla out of some desperately needed profits — and Musk is apparently willing to threaten his own customer base to stop that from happening.

More on the truck: Someone Built a Fully Functional Wooden Cybertruck